Single-mode microcavities filled with liquid crystals are predominantly nonlinear refractive optical elements. Pumped by lasers tuned above the filled cavity resonance frequency, we show that the phenomena of bistability, spatial pattern formation, and “optical bullet holes” appear even in a single-mode microcavity configuration. The solitons have an unexpected dark spatial profile and appear only beyond the bistability threshold.

• Received 14 December 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.66.055801